Soma Holiday (the Proletariat album)

Soma Holiday
Studio album by the Proletariat
Released 1983
Recorded March 1982 -
Studio Radiobeat
Genre
Length 39:30
Language English
Label Non-U
Radiobeat
Producer Jimmy Dufour
Lou Giordano
Frank Michaels
The Proletariat chronology
Distortion
(1982)		 Soma Holiday
(1983)		 "Marketplace"
(1985)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Robert Christgau(B+)[1]

Soma Holiday is the first studio album[2] and the second release by the American punk rock band the Proletariat. It was named after the drug used to control society in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World.[3][4]

Production and release

Produced by Jimmy Dufour, Lou Giordano[2] and Frank Michaels, all songs on Soma Holiday were recorded and mixed at Radiobeat Studios in Boston, Massachusetts. Bill Kipper was in charge of the mastering at Masterdisk in New York City.

The record includes enhanced versions of the songs "Splendid Wars", "Events/Repeat", "Blind", and "Torn Curtain", which were originally featured on the band's debut EP, the limited edition seven-track cassette tape Distortion,[nb 1] released the previous year.[2]

The album was co-released in 1983 by Non-U Records[nb 2] and Radiobeat Records,[nb 3] in LP format.[5][6]

Critical reception

In a contemporary review of the album, Joyce Millman at The Boston Phoenix, wrote:

"... Soma Holiday ... is a hefty 18-song manifesto ... on class warfare and economic inequality ... [with] frequent midsong tempo changes ... from martial punk to bouncing-off-the-wall hardcore. The record ... spotlights the nuances that often get swept up into the band's whirling live sound. Michaels, for instance, emerges as a guitarist who combines flash and restraint [on an album] built on a [hardcore] foundation of gurgling bass and rifle-range drumming, that varies little from track to track [over which his] leads and solos (18 of 'em all different) glow with imaginative detail ... That kind of invigorated playing bolsters Brown's dry, [protest] lyrics ... anchored in slogans ... rather than images [at the risk of] rhetorical overkill ... Brown may be a taciturn lyricist, but he's a demonically frenetic singer who employs an arsenal of orator's tricks ... Soma Holiday ... chronicles a band that's growing wiser and more proficient while losing none of its original commitment..."[2]

For his part, Jeff Bale from Maximumrocknroll, was of the view that:

"A lot of Boston bands sound great, but few--if any--have the political sophistication displayed by the Proletariat on their debut album. I would liken them to the early Gang of Four, both musically and ideologically, though the comparison shouldn't be overdrawn. They create equally complex structures, but they replace Gang of Four's sparseness with a full-bodied sound and punky guitar power ... A fabulous record that renews my faith in Bosstown."[7]

Reissues

In 1998, Soma Holiday was re-released, in its entirety, as part of the band's 2-CD anthology Voodoo Economics and Other American Tragedies,[nb 4] compiled in 1998 on Taang! Records.[8]

In October 1999, under license from the band, the album was reissued, only in Compact Cassette format[nb 5] and featuring alternate cover art, on Social Napalm Records,[9][10] a small DIY label based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

Track listing

Music by Peter Bevilacqua and Frank Michaels, lyrics by Richard Brown, except where noted. Arrangements by the Proletariat.

Side A
No. TitleLyrics Length
1. "Decorations"    3:04
2. "Splendid Wars"    1:42
3. "Famine"    1:54
4. "Embraced"    2:36
5. "Events/Repeat"    1:56
6. "Another Banner Raised"  Frank Michaels 1:42
7. "Hollow Victory"    2:44
8. "Condition"    2:09
9. "Avoidance"    1:55
Side B
No. TitleLyrics Length
1. "Pictures"    2:46
2. "Bread and Circus"    2:08
3. "Blind"    1:49
4. "Subsidized"    3:22
5. "Torn Curtain"    1:32
6. "Purge"  Michaels 2:40
7. "Scars"    1:37
8. "Decide on Change"  Peter Bevilacqua 1:36
9. "No Lesser of Evils"    2:18
Total length:
 39:30

Personnel

The Proletariat[2]
Additional performers
  • Mick Miller – backing vocals (A4)
  • Lou Giordano – backing vocals (A9)
  • Jimmy Dufour – backing vocals (A9)
Production

Notes

  1. ↑ Non-U Records
  2. ↑ Non-U #NON-U 01
  3. ↑ Radiobeat #RB 001
  4. ↑ Taang! #TAANG! 127
  5. ↑ Social Napalm #SNR 1

References

  1. ↑ Christgau, Robert (May 1984). "Consumer Guide Album: The Proletariat: Soma Holiday (Non-U/Radiobeat, 1983)". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Millman, Joyce (October 25, 1983). "Cellars by Starlight: Prole Cats". The Boston Phoenix. sec. 3, p. 6.
  3. ↑ "The Proletariat Home Page: Biography". theproletariat.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  4. ↑ Foley, Ryan. "The Music Museum of New England: The Proletariat". mmone.org. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  5. ↑ "The Proletariat Home Page: Soma Holiday". theproletariat.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  6. ↑ "The Proletariat: Soma Holiday LP". killfromtheheart.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  7. ↑ Bale, Jeff (October/November 1983). Soma Holiday. Maximumrocknroll (9).
  8. ↑ The Proletariat, Voodoo Economics and Other American Tragedies. allmusic.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  9. ↑ "SNR#1 - The Proletariat - "Soma Holiday" cassette tape". socialnapalm.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  10. ↑ "The Proletariat". killfromtheheart.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.

Further reading

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